Anvil for stapling machines



.My 17, 1934. F. POLZER El AL ANVIL FOR STAPLING MACHINES Filed Dec. 10,1951 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIII/1111M ATTORNEYS;

Patented July 17, 1934 1,967,064 ANVIL son sen-aim; Mslcnnvns Fridolinlc-lzer, South NorWalk, and Roy E. leterson; East Nerwa-lli, cam,assignors to The E. H. Hotchkiss Company, Norwalk, Conn, a ccrpcrationofConnecticut Application December 10, 1931, Serial No. 580,122

6 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in staplingmachines, and has particular relation to an anvil mechanism for suchmachines.

An object of the invention is to provide a stapling machine including amovable anvil and means for causing the anvil to deliver a hammerlikeblow to the end portions of adriven staple whereby to clinch and flattensaid end portions against the object being stapled.

Another object is to provide a reliable and efficient means for thepurpose stated and which means is automatic in itsoperation, beingprepared for operation by the operation of the usual plunger in itsstaple driving stroke, and which includes but a relatively few andsimple parts whereby the device is not likely to get out of order andmay be manufactured at a comparatively low cost.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a considerationof the following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing wherein a satisfactory embodiment of the inventionis shown. However, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the'precise details disclose-d but includes allsuch'varlations and modifications as fall within the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims to which claims referenceshould be had for a definition of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view partly in section andpartly in side elevation withparts broken away to better illustrate details of construction;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on an'enlarged scale through the forwardportion of the machine showing the relative lccation' of parts duringthe operation of driving a staple;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectionalview taken at right angles to Fig. 2 andshowingthe relative location of parts at the completion of a staplingoperation;

Fig. 4 is aview somewhat similar to Fig. 3 but showing therelativelo'cation'of parts during the operation of driving a staple; and

Figure 5 is a detail sectional'view' takensubstantially along the line5-'5 of-Fig. 1.

in the co-pending application Serial No. 580,123 filed December th,1231, ofFridolin Polzer the means of the present invention is shown anddescribed in connection with other features of a stapling machine and isbroadly claimed.

Referring in detail to the drawing the improved anvil for staplingmachines as herein disclosed is applied to a machine including a base 6on which is mounted an anvil 7 comprising parts 8 and 9 pivotallymounted as by pins 10. The anvil is arranged adjacent the front portionof the base and toward its rear end the base carries a block 11 to whichis rigidly secured an upwardly and forwardly curving arm 12, the armbeing adapted at its lower end to straddle the block 11 or be disposedover the same and being secured to the block as by bolts or rivets 13passing through the lower portion of the arm and the block. 7 g I V V Ahousing 14 including a longitudinal substantially horizontally arrangedportion 15 and a front or head portion 16 is disposed above the base 6and toward the rear end of its portion 15 is partiall-y received in anotch in the upper surface of the block 11 and is pivotally mounted onthe block as by a pin or bar 1'7. Within the longitudinal portion 15 ofthe housing there is arranged a guide bar 18 adapted to have a staplestrip 19 disposed thereon and fed therealong by any suitable followermeans. I M

v The follower meanshere disclosed includes a follower head 20-straddling the guide bar 18 in the rear of the staple strip and urgedalong the guide bar as by a coil spring 21 arranged on a rod 22-extending through a channel 28 in the upper surface of the guide bar. Aclip 24 surrounding the bar 22 and carried by the head 20 is adapted tohave one end of the spring 21 bear against it whereby the follower headis urged forwardly along the guide bar by the spring. On its rear end orfree end the rod 22 is provided with a finger piece or head 25 and alsocarries a pin 26 adapted tobe engaged in a bayonet slot 2'7 in the rearportion of the housing whereby to secure the follower on the guide bar.

The head 16 of the housing 14 is hollow toreceive averticallyreciprocable member or plunger carrier 28 to the forward face of whichis secured a plunger 29 operable in a raceway 30 in the head, to drivestaples. Arranged within the head 16 and below the member 28 is a coilspring 31 adapted to resist movement of the member into the head in theoperation of the member to drive a'staple and adapted to act to move themember upwardly'to its normal position after each staple drivingoperation. Of course, the plunger 29 is carried with the member 28 andit will be under stood that theplunger is operated downwardly throughthe raceway 30 to cut the foremost staple from the strip 19 and drivesaid staple through the raceway and through the object to be stapled andagainst the anvil 7.

At its upper end the member or plunger carrier 28 is provided with ahead-like portion 32 having an elongated slot 33 therein and throughwhich slot extends a pin 34 adapted to connect the portion 32 and thusthe plunger carrier 28 with a hand member or piece 35 pivotallyconnected at its rear end as by the pivot 36 with the forward endportion of the upwardly and forwardly curved arm 12 previously referredto. A coil spring 37, preferably arranged within the arm 12, has one ofits ends anchored to said arm as at 38, and has its other end connectedwith the hand piece or lever 35 as at 39 in eccentric relation to thepivot 36. It will therefore be apparent that the spring 37 normally actsto maintain the handle or piece 35 in the elevated or normal position inwhich it is shown in Fig. 1.

The operation of the stapling machine as is thus far described will itis believed be apparent. The follower mechanism constantly urges thestaple strip along the guide bar in the direction of the raceway 30whereby the staples of the strip are fed one at a time to the raceway.The papers or other material P to be stapled are disposed on the anvilportion of the base and the handle 35 is then operated downwardly aboutits pivot 36 to move the plunger 29 downwardly through the raceway.During this movement the plunger functions to cut the first staple fromthe strip and drive said staple through-the raceway and the object to bestapled and against the anvil. The springs 31 and 3'7 act to return theparts to normal position.

As stated above the parts 8 and 9 of the anvil are pivotally mounted onthe pins 16 and arranged below these parts is one arm 46 of a lever 41pivoted to the base as at 42 and having a depending arm or portion 43.Slidably mounted in spaced bearings 44 and 45 carried by the base 6 atits underside is a rod 46 the forward end of which includes a head orportion 47 adapted as will later appear, to, at the proper time, engagethe depending arm 43 of the lever 41 and rock said lever about its pivot42. Surrounding the rod 46 and arranged between the bearing 44 and acollar 48 on the rod is a coil spring 49, the function of which willlater be described.

A lever 50 is pivoted intermediate its ends as by the pivot pin 17before referred to and this lever extends through a relatively wide slot51 in the block 11 to one side of the housing 15 and through a similarslot in the upper wall of the base 6. At its lower end the lever 50 ispivotally connected with the rear or inner end of the rod 46 as by meansof a pin 52 carried by the rod and passing through an elongated slot 53in the lower end portion of the lever. The upper end of the lever ispivotally connected as at 54 with the rear end of a forwardly extendingbar 55 arranged above the elongated portion 15 of the housing 14.

The head 16 on the forward end of the elongated portion 15 of thehousing includes rearwardly extending spaced portions 56 the rearportions 57 of which are off-set toward one another, but spaced apart toprovide a relatively deep pocket 58 the limits of which are defined atone side by the shoulders 59. A bell-crank lever 60 is pivotally mountedbetween the portions 57 as on a pin 61 and to the arm 62 of thisbell-crank lever there is pivotally connected the forward end of the bar55, the pivot being indicated at 63. In the normal position of the partsas shown in Fig. 1 the arm 64 of the bell-crank lever projects slightlybeyond the shoulders 59 and into the pocket 58.

Secured to the rear side of the head 32 of the plunger carrying member28 is an upiight 65, the lower end portion of which is adapted to bereciprocated in the pocket 58 as the plunger 29 is r ciprocated in thedriving of a staple. A dog or pawl 66 pivoted to this upright 65 inspaced relation to the lower end thereof and interposed between thelower or free end of said dog or pawl and the lower end of the uprightis a coil spring 67, the purpose of which is to normally maintain thefree end of the pawl against the shoulders 59 in a position spanning thespace between the shoulders.

When the handle 35 is depressed to operate the plunger 29 and drive astaple, the upright 65 and the pawl 66 are of course carried downwardlyinto the pocket 58 as the plunger moves downwardly in the raceway 30. Asthe parts move downwardly the outer or free end of the pawl ridingagainst the shoulders 59 engages the end of the arm 64 of the bell-cranklever and carries this end downwardly resulting in the bell-crank leverbeing rocked about its pivot 61 in a manner to cause its arm 62 to moverearwardly. Such movement of the bell-crank lever results in the bar 55being reciprocated rearwardly whereby the lever 50 is rocked on itspivot 17 to throw its lower end forwardly and thereby slide the rodforwardly in a manner to compress the spring 49 and carry the head orportion 47 of the rod away from the depending arm 43 of the lever 41.

This movement of the head or portion 47 away from the arm 43 of lever 41will, of course, permit the lever to drop downwardly about its pivot ina manner to carry its arm 40 away from the anvil parts 8 and 9 and theseparts may then either gravitate to the positions in which they are shownin Fig. 4 or the parts may be moved to such positions by the endportions of a staple. Therefore it will be understood that during theoperation of driving a staple the parts 8 and 9 of the anvil eithergravitate from the position in which they are best shown in Fig. 3 tothat in which they are best shown in Fig. 4, or are moved into theposition shown in Fig. 4 by the end portions of a staple.

It will, therefore, be understood that the anvil parts offer noappreciable resistance to the down ward movement of the legs of a stapleafter said legs have passed through the object or objects being stapled.There is, therefore, no tendency of the legs of the staple to buckle dueto the end portions of said legs coming into engagement with a fixed orrigid anvil.

As the plunger 29 reaches the end of its stroke, the bell-crank lever 60has moved into such a position that the end of its arm 64 has moved intoa position between the portions 57 of the head. and beyond the shoulders59 and as the plunger completes its movement the pawl 66 is carriedbelow this arm of the bell crank and the compressed spring 49 isreleased to return the parts connected with it to their normalpositions. When the parts are released as just described, the spring 49which was compressed during forward movement of the rod 46 expands andthrows the rod rearwardly causing the head or portion 4'7 of the rod toviolently strike the depending arm 43 of the lever 41 and throw saidlever about its pivot to cause its arm 40 to throw the parts 8 and 9 ofthe anvil upwardly and have them deliver a sharp or hammer-like blow tothe end portions of the legs of the staple.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that this hammering of the endportions of the legs of the driven staple does not take place untilafter the plunger has driven the staple through the object beingstapled. This hammering results in the staple having its end portionsorthe end portions of its legs, clinched against the object being stapledand moreover results in said end portions of the legs being flattenedagainst the object. In the operation of the device the handle 35 will,of course, be held down to m'aintain the plunger in engagement with thecross or connecting bar of the driven staple until after the parts ofthe anvil have delivered their hammer-like blow.

In the usual arrangements wherein a stationary anvil having two concavedepressions is employed the ends of the legs of the staples are turnedover but are not flattened against the object stapled. With the presentarrangement these ends are given a sharp hammer-like blow and areabsolutely flattened against the object through which the staple hasbeen driven.

The movement of the rod 46 rearwardly on the expansion of the spring 49as above described results in the lever 50 being rocked about its pivot1'? in a manner to throw the bar forwardly and return the bell-cranklever to its normal position. As the springs 31 and 3'7 act to returnthe plunger 29 and handle 35 and associated parts to normal position theupright and pawl 66 are of course carried upwardly and the pawl may passthe now projecting end of the arm 64 of the bell-crank since owing toits pivotal mounting and the spring 67 the pawl may collapse or moveagainst the upright in one direction.

Having thus set forth the nature of our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a stapling machine, a base, an anvil carried by the base, ahousing having a raceway therein above the anvil, means for feedingstaples to the raceway, a plunger operable in the raceway to drive thestaples, said anvil comprising a pair of parts pivotally mounted formovement toward and from the end portions of the legs of the staplebeing driven, means operated to store energy during the staple drivingmovement of the plunger, means whereby said stored energy is released oncompletion of the staple driving movement of the plunger, and a pivotedlever engaging both of said anvil parts and operated by said releasedenergy for causing the anvil to deliver a hammer-like blow to the endportions of the driven staple to clinch said end portions against theobject being stapled.

2. In a stapling machine, a base, an anvil carried by the base, ahousing having a raceway therein above the anvil, means for feedingstaples to the raceway, a plunger operable in the raceway to drive thestaples, said anvil mounted for movement toward and from the endportions of the legs of a staple being driven, a lever pivoted on thebase and having a portion engaging the underside of the anvil, a rodslidably mounted on the base, said rod slidably with respect to thelever and having a portion to engage the lever and rock it on its pivotas the rod approaches the limit of its movement in one direction, a coilspring on the rod, means whereby as the plunger is operated to drive astaple the rod is moved to compress the spring, and a trip mechanismwhereby the rod is released as the plunger completes its drivingmovement whereby the spring may expand and move the rod in a directionto cause the said portion thereof to engage the lever and rock the samein a direction to force the anvil against the end portions of the legsof the staple to flatten said portions against the object being stapled.r

3. In a'stapling machine, an elongated base, an anvil carried by thebase adjacent one of its ends, a housing having a raceway therein abovethe anvil, means for feeding staples to the raceway, a plunger operablein the raceway to drive the staples, said anvil mounted for movementtoward and from the end portions of the legs of a staple being driven,means for causing the anvil to deliver a hammer-like blow to the saidend portions of the legs of the staple after the same has been driven,said means including a slidable rod at the under side of said base andoperable in one direction to cause said anvil to deliver said hammerlike blow, a spring at the under side of said base to operate said rodin said direction, means to compress said spring during the movement ofthe plunger in driving a staple, and automatic means to release thespring to have it operate said rod in said direction on the completionof the staple driving movement of the plunger.

4. In a stapling machine, a base, an anvil carried by the base, ahousing having a raceway therein above the anvil, means for feedingstaples to the raceway, a plunger operable in the raceway to drive thestaples, said anvil comprising a pair of pivotally mounted parts adaptedto have pivotal movement toward and from the end portions of the legs ofa staple being driven, a lever pivoted on the base and having a portionengaging the underside of each of said anvil parts, a rod mounted on thebase, said rod slidable with respect to the lever and having a portionto engage the lever and rock it on its pivot as the rod approaches thelimit of its movement in one direction, a coil spring on the rod, meanswhereby as the plunger is operated to drive a staple the rod is moved tocompress the spring, and a trip mechanism whereby the rod is released asthe plunger completes its driving movement whereby the spring may expandand move the rod in a direction to cause the said portion thereof toengage the lever and rock the same to force the anvil parts against theend portions of the legs of the staple to flatten said portions againstthe object being stapled.

5. In a stapling machine, a base, an anvil movably mounted on the base,a head above the base, said head having a raceway, means for feedingstaples to the raceway, a plunger operable in the raceway to drive thestaples, said anvil mounted for movement toward and from the endportions of the legs of a staple being driven, a pivoted 130 leverhaving an end portion beneath and in engagement with the anvil, aslidably mounted rod having a normal position on the base, a springassociated with said rod, means whereby the rod is moved from normalposition to store energy in 135 the spring as the plunger is moved todrive a staple, and means for releasing the rod as the plunger completesits driving stroke whereby the spring acts to return the rod to normalposition, said rod including a means to engage and rock 140 the leverduring movement of the rod to normal position whereby said lever willoperate the anvil to have it deliver a hammer-like blow to the endportions of the staple and clinch said portions against the object beingstapled on completion of the driving stroke of the plunger.

6. In a stapling machine, a base, an anvil on the base, a head above thebase, said head having a raceway, means for supplying staples to theraceway, a plunger operable in the raceway to 159 drive the staples,said anvil mounted for movement toward and from the end portions of thelegs of a staple being driven, a pivoted member having an end portionbeneath and in engagement with the anvil, a slidably mounted rod havinga normal position on the base, a spring on said rod, a lever pivotedintermediate its ends, said lever pivoted at one end to an end of therod, a pivotally mounted bell crank lever, a link pivoted at one end tothe other end of said lever and at its opposite end to an arm of thebell crank lever whereby rocking movement of the bell crank lever willcause sliding movement of said rod, and a pivotally mounted dog movablewith the plunger and adapted on the driving stroke of the plunger toengage an arm of said bell crank lever and rock the same on its pivot toslide said rod forwardly and compress said spring, said bell crank leveradapted to move from under the dog on completion of the driving strokeof the plunger whereby the spring may act to shift the rod rearwardly tonormal position, said rod including a means to engage and move themember during movement of the rod to normal position whereby said memberwill operate the anvil in a direction to have it deliver a hammerlikeblow to the end portions of the staple and clinch said portions againstthe object being stapled.

FRIDOLIN POLZER.

ROY E. PETERSON.

